Of Knights and Nightmares
by Bonnie Always Watching
Summary: King DeDeDe orders a new kind of monster from NME - a monster that should destroy Kirby in his dreams, where no one can protect him. But before the monster can try and attack Kirby, it is over-powered by Meta Knight, who then discovers that this monster has a less sinister side to it than he could have thought.


King DeDeDe stood hunched over the edge of his balcony glaring daggers through a pair of binoculars at a certain pink puff ball. Next to him stood his snail henchman, Escargoon. It was the middle of the night, so the puff ball, otherwise known as Kirby, was fast asleep in his tree. He and everyone else in Dreamland, besides DeDeDe and Escargoon, were sleeping as they should've been, but DeDeDe had other thoughts on his mind than sleep. One of those thoughts being his contemplation on how to destroy Kirby.

DeDeDe was willing to stand out in the bitter cold and waste precious hours of sleep trying to find Kirby's weakness, yet Escargoon desperate wanted to return to his soft, warm bed. For the past few days, DeDeDe had become restless in his attempts at destroying Kirby, resulting in a major lack of sleep on both of their parts. DeDeDe was too preoccupied to care, but Escargoon felt differently. The snail's eyes were drooping, and he was barley awake as it was.

"Hmph, I swear if Kirby isn't taken care of soon, I just might take matters into my own hands!" DeDeDe muttered under his breath. "Just look at him down there - sleeping all soundly like!" Escargoon had caught onto the last part of what DeDeDe said and yawned wildly.

"Wish I were him, right now." He murmured. DeDeDe cocked him hard on the head, causing the snail to snap out of his groggy stupor.

"Quit your belly aching, it's only twelve-thirty!" He growled. "You ain't gonna fall asleep before we figure out what we gonna do!" Escargoon sighed, realizing that he didn't have a choice in the matter. A cold breeze had begun to pick up, sweeping over the snail, his king, and, from the looks of it, Kirby. DeDeDe held his ground and refused to move from his place on the balcony. Escargoon, however, wasn't going to have any more of this.

"Y-you know, S-Sire, nothing helps you th-think better than a g-good nights s-s-sleep." He said through chattering teeth. DeDeDe smacked him over the head once more.

"I said quiet!" DeDeDe snapped. He turned his attention back to Kirby and saw that he was undisturbed by the cold wind. It was well known in the kingdom that Kirby was a heavy sleeper, but DeDeDe didn't think it was this heavy- despite the freezing temperature; Kirby didn't stir or even move uncomfortably. Though he did smile every once in a while, which DeDeDe passed off as just dreaming. "Hm, must be too good of a dream to wake up from." DeDeDe snorted. "A very good dream indeed..." He trailed off as an idea began to dawn on him. Maybe he could put an end to all Kirby's good dreaming with a simple bad dream, or better yet, a nightmare. "Ha! That's it!" He exclaimed.

"What's it, Sire?" Escargoon asked, the sleepiness in his voice returning quickly. The king grabbed Escargoon and dragged him back inside.

"Were gonna get a monster that'll beat Kirby in the one place he can't be protected- in his dreams!" DeDeDe explained. Escargoon blinked, trying to process what the king had said.

"Does a monster like that even exist?" He yawned. DeDeDe took his place in his chair and dropped the snail right next to him.

"We're about to find out." He snickered. He pushed the button on his armrest, causing the walls of the room surrounding them to unfold and reveal a few TV screens, and a high-tech machine in the center of the room. What looked similar to an unfolded umbrella lowered over DeDeDe's head and uncurled into a small satellite-like object. The giant screen flashed some static, then an image of a dark skinned man wearing glasses and grinning widely appeared.

"Thank you for choosing Nightmare Enterprise, how may I help you, King DeDeDe? Up for some late night shopping I see." The man said in a proper business tone.

"I need a monster that can go into Kirby's mind when he's asleep." DeDeDe said. "Y'know, like a dream monster!" The man's business smile widened as he heard the king's request.

"You're in luck, King; we just put out a limited time offer of a nightmare monster!" The screen flashed static again, then displayed a large black box that was wrapped tightly with chains. The box would occasionally tilt over, probably from some force thrashing about inside. "She's so vile; we don't dare let her out of her cage." The screen flashed back to the man. "We call her Nightmare Moon and she's the only one in stock." DeDeDe smirked when he heard the monster's name.

"Nightmare Moon, huh? I like it, send her over!" DeDeDe demanded. The man on the screen waved a finger at him.

"Hang on there, King, there are a few thing I need to tell you about her first; she's a special kind of monster." He informed. "She's a talker and, unlike the ones you've ordered in the past, she is not allowed into sunlight."

"Talker and no sunlight. Got it. Anything else?"

"Besides 'thank you for doing business with Nightmare Enterprise'? Just 'enjoy your new monster." With that, the man on the flickered off and the machine in the center of the room began making loud humming noises. A light started shinning from the middle of the contraption and proceeded to take form. At first, neither King DeDeDe nor Escargoon knew what it was, but as time went on, it began to look clearer. The monster stood on four long legs and had two large wings. A long, horn-like appendage stuck out from what they assumed to be its head, followed by a strange flowing matter from both ends. The light faded as the thing's shape had fully developed and it turned out to be… a horse? No, it was too small to be a horse, a pony then?

It was no ordinary pony, mind you, given the wings and horn as well as the out-of-control mane and tail it had going on. To add to that, the pony's eyes, which seemed to be glaring at the duo, looked a cold teal color and took the appearance of a dragon's eyes. And finally, the pony's pelt was pitch black with a moon plastered on its flank and surrounded by a deep purple cloud-like stuff. A light blue helm sat just beneath the swirling mess of a mane the pony had. It matched with the chest plate and four sparkling slippers. DeDeDe gapped in shock at the so-called "monster".

"That's it? That's the nightmare monster?! That thing looks like it came out of some eight year old's fantasy land!" DeDeDe snarled. The pony's glare hardened at the king's words, but she remained still.  
>"Well now, aren't we picky?" She said calmly yet mockingly. "Am I suddenly not good enough for you because I'm not one of those stereotypical nightmares? Let me guess, you expected a twin-horned manticore with giant claws, did you not?"<p>

"Well we didn't expect you to look like a… a…" Escargoon paused in the middle of his sentence to let out a big yawn. "Like a circus freak." He finished. Nightmare Moon smirked at the sleepy snail.

"Aw is somebody sweepy?" She taunted. Her mane and tail began swirling up to the ceiling, creating a mess of clouds. Her horn gave off a turquoise glow and her eyes shinned a bright white. "Maybe this will help!" A bolt of lightning shot from the clouds and struck the floor right in front of Escargoon. The snail yelped in terror and jumped onto the King's throne, clinging to it for dear life. Thunder echoed through the throne room. DeDeDe jumped at the strike of the lightning, but covered it up with a few nervous laughed.

"That was impressive, but a little bit of lighting ain't gonna get rid of Kirby." DeDeDe inquired. Escargoon, now fully awake and shivering in fear, nodded in agreement.

"W-we've tried that alr-ready." He stammered. Nightmare Moon gave a chuckle of her own.

"Oh, that? That was just a little crowd pleaser- a little opening act if you will." She laughed. Her wings unfurled and she lifted into the air for effect. "But I promise you, the real fun is much more!" The lights in the room began to flicker and the curtains threw themselves open. The lights flashed off, leaving the only light source as the moonbeams that shone through the now open windows. "Do you still think I'm a circus freak? Am I worth your time now?!" Nightmare Moon bellowed. A strong gust of wind blew through the windows, shattering the glass and spreading it across the floor. Indigo fog fell from Nightmare Moon's mane and spread quickly around the room. DeDeDe and Escargoon now cowered beneath the floating figure of Nightmare Moon. "WELL?!"

"No- I mean yes! I-I mean-" DeDeDe tried to say. Escargoon was to terrified to say anything. Nightmare Moon cackled at his attempts, then, with an ominous Whoosh, Nightmare Moon dissipated into smoke and flew out one of the windows. The scattered glass from the windows was lifted from the ground and placed itself back in place. The lights shot back on and the curtains drew back over the windows. In a matter of a few seconds, the room looked as though nothing had happened.

The King and the snail blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. They did know one thing though; Kirby wasn't going to stand a chance against their new monster

The indigo cloud of stars flew low to the ground, causing some grass to wither and turn black. Once the cloud was far away enough from the castle, it materialized back into its pony form. Nightmare Moon cast one last glance at the castle, checking to make sure they couldn't see her, then trotted along the grass in a manner that said "I am incredible!" She held her chin high and he eyes closed, letting the feeling of freedom sink in.

"One-thousand years!" She thought out loud. "I haven't felt this free in ONE-THOUSAND YEARS! And now," She laughed. "And now there's no Princess Celestia to stop me! No Celestia, no royal army, and most importantly, no elements of harmony!" Her wings flared as she laughed victoriously. She turned back to the castle with a mocking smile. "Sorry Kingy Dingy. But this "Kirby" character will have to wait until I have a little taste of my new found freedom! Besides, how am I supposed to find him when I don't know what he looks like?" Her swirling mane dipped onto the ground, forming into a copy of herself.

"Well I for one don't think you'll be able too." The clone said in an uptight tone.

"Exactly!" The real Nightmare Moon replied. She and the clone continued walking along the path they found. "Besides, I have other plans. Plans that don't have time for me to fight battles that are not my own."

"What plans might those be?" The clone asked curiously. Nightmare moon chuckled and absorbed the clone back into her mane.

"You'll see." As she walked further along the path, she came across what looked to be a town- a peaceful little village that was unsuspecting of any danger. Her pace quickened into a gallop as the town came into a better view. She ducked behind a bush and peered through the branches at the quiet town. The streets were deserted and all the windows were closed. "They must all be sleeping." Nightmare Moon whispered to herself. Her mouth curled into an evil smile and she looked up at the cloudy sky. "How about I change that?" She vaporized into starry fog and floated upwards.

There, she started flying around in a big circle, drawing all of the clouds together. They grew into a large black mass that blocked out the moonlight and covered most of the town. She dissolved into the stormy mass and, with one zap of her horn, her devastation of Cappy Town began.


End file.
